We Need to Talk About Kevin

2011

Action / Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller

Synopsis

Eva Khatchadourian is trying to piece together her life following the "incident". Once a successful travel writer, she is forced to take whatever job comes her way, which of late is as a clerk in a travel agency. She lives a solitary life as people who know about her situation openly shun her, even to the point of violent actions toward her. She, in turn, fosters that solitary life because of the incident, the aftermath of which has turned her into a meek and scared woman. That incident involved her son Kevin Khatchadourian, who is now approaching his eighteenth birthday. Eva and Kevin have always had a troubled relationship, even when he was an infant. Whatever troubles he saw, Franklin, Eva's complacent husband, just attributed it to Kevin being a typical boy. The incident may be seen by both Kevin and Eva as his ultimate act in defiance against his mother.

Eva Khatchadourian is trying to piece together her life following the "incident". Once a successful travel writer, she is forced to take whatever job comes her way, which of late is as a clerk in a travel agency. She lives a solitary life as people who know about her situation openly shun her, even to the point of violent actions toward her. She, in turn, fosters that solitary life because of the incident, the aftermath of which has turned her into a meek and scared woman. That incident involved her son Kevin Khatchadourian, who is now approaching his eighteenth birthday. Eva and Kevin have always had a troubled relationship, even when he was an infant. Whatever troubles he saw, Franklin, Eva's complacent husband, just attributed it to Kevin being a typical boy. The incident may be seen by both Kevin and Eva as his ultimate act in defiance against his mother.

Tech specs

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by balatino1 / 10

Terrible to watch

This movie is terrible to watch. A very annoying child, that never reveals any answer about his heritage of evil. For me the movie has not point in watching. I really don't understand why people would want to see this movie.

Reviewed by PubHound7 / 10

Ambiguous and visually stimulating

7 1/2

"We need to talk about Kevin" is overall chilling and genuinely terrifying at times, especially after the first half of the movie. It basically shows us the genesis of a psychopath, but without really outlining the reasons behind this genesis or blaming anyone in particular : was it all his mother's fault , was it genetics', was it both? Hard to know. The greatness of this movie resides behind this doubt and a gorgeous directing.

Reviewed by Stango Tigerfists7 / 10

Willfully Frustrating Film

This is not an easy film to watch, on any level. If, like me, you immediately begin arguing in your head with the director from the beginning, you will have to drag yourself through it. After about 30 minutes, I just had to roll with it, and it was ultimately rewarding.

One of the things I ended up appreciating about the film was its stubborn resistance to giving the audience anything they have come to expect in this type of story. There is no preaching, no messaging, no resolution... just the starkness of the account. That touches on my primary criticism of the film, which I will return to later.

A few great choices by the director that undermined any sentimentality or dog whistles to well-worn narratives and debates:

The choice to make the dad useless. - The choice to make the setting a relatively wealthy family with apparently few temporal problems or concerns. - The choice to make the home large, impersonal and practically empty. - The choice to sidestep any political distractions of gun ownership. - The choice to portray the parents as highly imperfect or worse.

A few minor criticisms:

John C. Reilly's character was truly one inch deep with canned lines. He had two functions in the film - to frustrate the mother and to placate the child. And that is exactly what he did. No more, no less.

The mother's workplace was too cartoonish and so were her co- workers. It's a crummy place to work full of losers. We get it. No really, stop, STOP, we get it!

My primary criticism of the film, however, is that the director made the editing and the facade of the film a giant, unwelcome distraction. It's a gimmick. The story would have been MUCH more powerful had it been told quietly, but instead the entire film is almost dominated by (what I took as) nightmarish portrayals of the inner workings of the mother's mind. This is like the Marilyn Manson remix of what would otherwise be a very subversive and chilling film.